Method Evaluation

Evaluation of a new method or instrument must be completed prior to introduction into the laboratory. Timely and efficient completion of the evaluation requires a well thought out plan using clearly defined criteria. In general, an evaluation should be performed in the following sequence:

• Application characteristics
• Linearity
• Precision (within and between run)
• Interference
• Recovery
• Method comparison

This approach to method evaluation begins with simpler preliminary studies to assess performance. Only if these results look promising, are the more extensive final studies conducted. Each step of the evaluation will detect different types of analytical error.